Happy New Year!! I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday season, however and whatever you chose to celebrate!
I am happy to be back: back up in the Blue Ridge Mountains for a month, back to bringing you all sorts of nature connection inspiration and resources, back to the beginning of the year, and back to work after a great winter break!
The sunrise glowing in the tops of the trees last week was so mystical.
This time of year the world is full of advice for everything – losing weight, cleaning house, organizing your life, and let go of all the things holding you back. We are told to drop the old and jump into new.
But what about all the things that you do great every day and every year?
What do you admire about your life and accomplishments? Which of your perspectives and habits are awesome and should be revered as classics?
What about those rainy days that you mustered up your courage and took your kids (or students) outside to get wet and muddy anyway?
What about the hike you went on that you were sure was going to kill you, but you made it?
What about that spider you decided to let live in your basement?
What about the night you cooked an amazing, healthy, fresh, locally sourced dinner when you really felt like ordering a pizza?
These are what I want to celebrate with you.
The amazing little ways we connect with our brilliant ecosystem everyday. I say, let’s appreciate all the things that remind us of our very important roles in the big beautiful web of life!
I’ll start.
I am proud of myself when I: make a meal comprised of more than 3 ingredients I grew myself,
stretch my comfort zone in my children’s garden workshops (ie: not always using the tried and true lessons that always work),
and when I push through lethargy and make myself go surfing in the winter when I would rather just stay inside under a blanket. (Wetsuit or not, that ocean is cold!!!)
What about you?
As a bit of inspiration, check out this video of “Weeds” by Mona Caron. Y’all know how I love street art, nature art, and the idea of weeds taking the city back, so when I discovered this video of weed murals actually “growing” in the city I have been so excited to share it with you!! (Of course I found it the week after my post on weeds taking back Miami!)
Mind blowing, right?!!!!
What classic connection victories did you have in 2014?
Which will you repeat in 2015? Share in the comments below!
Seeds to Sprout:
Check out the weeds taking over miami post I mentioned earlier, Little Nature in the Big City here.
Learn more about Mona Caron’s nature murals and process in this article.
Kaizen, Hygge, Friluftsliv. What? Find out what these are and why you may be super excited about this Mother Nature Network article on these inspiring concepts about appreciating self, nature, community and our connections to each of these. Which ones are a part of your life? Which would you like to add?
Here’s a fun way to start building community connections with your family, friends, and students in 2015- January 8-14 is Universal Letter Writing Week!! Who could you write a letter to about the nature connections you are making or facilitating this week? If you email me your postal address by 1/7/14 and I will write you a letter this week myself!
Felling a little rusty when it comes to letter writing? Want some tips and prompts? Check out this free e course by writer extraordinaire Alexandra Franzen and get a prompt each day of letter writing week!
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